Machine for cleaning short hair.



w. H. PARKS.- MACHINE FOR CLEANING SHORT HAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, I9I3.

Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

W. H. PARKS.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING SHORT HAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. H. PARKS.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING SHORT HAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30. 1913.

1,147,747. Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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WILLIAM H. PARKS, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR 'IO FREDERICK W.

HARDEN, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING SHORT HAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedJu1y27,1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLiAM H. PARKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Short l-Iainlof which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the cleaning of hog or other short hairfrom theparticles of skin and other impurities or dirt which adheres thereto.

In the processes as generally practised the hair is subjected to theaction of certain solutions which dissolve the impurities or soften themto such an extent that they may be readily removed. Such treatment hasbeen found to soften the hair also so much that its strength, elasticityor life is greatly impaired thereby reducing its salability andusefulness.

With my process the original strength and elasticity of the hair arefully preserved, the impurities are thoroughly removed, and valuableby-products are obtained.

In carrying my invention into effect I subject the hair in a dry stateto a thorough beating and rubbing process in which the hair isrepeatedly struck and rubbed, at the same time the mass of hair beingtreated is worked in such a manner as to manipulate the individual hairswithin the mass and to move the mass bodily toward a discharge providedfor the finished product. At the same time that the dirt andimpuritiesare being removed from the hairs they are separated from themass of hair, so that when the finished product is discharged theimpurities have been entirely separated and separately removed.

In carrying out my process I providea rotatable cylinder or drum havingteeth or projections arranged in axial rows, the individual teeth of therows being arranged to form aspiral row extending around the cylinderthe desired number of times. That is, the teethare arranged to form aspiral extending around the cylinder from one end substantially to theother. Cooperating with thesete'e'th upon the cylinder are fixed teethbetween which the cylinder teeth pass during the rotation of thecylinder. The hair is fed to the cylinder from above at one end, and asthe cylinder rotates the hair is carried by the cylinder teeth betweenthe ed teeth and is thereby thoroughly beaten upon the rotating cylindercauses the bodily movement of the hair from the feed end to thedischarge end of the machine, and in order to produce more thoroughcleansing than could be don-e in a machine having a short cylinder, andin orderto avoid necessity of making the cylinder too long, I provide asecond cylinder below the first to which the hair is discharged and uponwhich the teeth are also arranged in a spiral.

Extending beneath each cylinder is a foraminous screen arranged betweensets of fixed teeth or among said teeth in any desired manner, thisscreen permitting the particles of skin and other impurities to passthrough to .a discharge hopper, while retaining the hair within the zoneof action of the cylinder teeth.

teeth, showing their arrangement and also showing the bottom screen;Fig. 4. is an enlarged detail showing the preferred mounting of thecylinder teeth; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached View of one form oftooth, that shown as employed for the fixed teeth; and Fig. 6 is asimilar view showing the preferred form of cylinder teeth.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the main frame of the machine, supportedby standards 2. Mounted upon the main frame is a rotatable cylinder 3mounted in bearings 4.- and adapted to be driven by pulley 5. Mountedupon cylinder 3 are teeth 6, preferably mounted in longitudinal rows,the individual teeth of each row being spaced apart and being displacedwith respect to the teeth of the adjacent rows soas to form a helixextending around the cylinder. The teeth 6 are preferably formed withlateral faces 7 which converge from one end of the tooth to the otherand are provided with scrubbing or contacting surfaces. These surfacesare preferably formed to include oblique ridges 8, these ridges beingarranged to slope upwardly and rearwardly from the front of the tooth,the front 9 of the tooth being preferably the narrow end for reasonswhich will be hereinafter explained. Each tooth has a base 10 which ispreferably in the form of a dove-tail to fit within a dove-tail slot 11provided in longitudinal bars 12 mounted upon the cylinder. One end ofthe slot 11 is preferably closed, the other end being provided with apost 13 with set screw 14, the latter being in alinement with said slot.Space-blocks 15 are provided between the teeth. After the teeth andspace-blocks have been inserted in the slot, post 13 is secured inposition and set screw 14 screwed down so as to clamp the teeth andspace-blocks rigidly in position.

By referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the individual teeth of thesuccessive rows are displaced with respect to the corresponding teeth ofadjacent rows so as to constitute a helix. Each successive tooth of thishelix is moreover displaced sufiiciently from the others to form withfixed teeth 16' interspaced cooperating teeth.

The arrangement of the fixed teeth 16 is best shown in Fig. 3, in whichit will be seen that these teeth are arranged in two longi tudinalgroups, with a screen or foraminous grating 17 between the groups. Atone end of the screen is a discharge chute 18. ,The teeth of each groupare preferably arranged in rows, the individual teeth of each row beingdisplaced sufiiciently longitudinally to permit the passage therebetweenof the cylinder teeth and to form rows oblique to the axis of thecylinder in conformity with the helical arrangement of the teeth uponthe cylinder. These fixed teeth are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, andone of which is shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 5. In this latterfigure it will be seen that the tooth itself has the same form as thetooth de- Cylinder 3 is inclosed as to its upper portion by shell 22having end heads 23 and an upper hinged section 24.

Feed belt 25 is adapted to feed the hair to rolls 26 and 27, roll 26 ofwhich being held down by the yielding pressure of the weights mountedupon levers 28 and 29.

Mounted below screen 17 is a discharge plate 30 for the dirt and othermaterial passingthrough the screen. (7 g In order to more effectivelyclean the hair, and avoid making the cylinders of undue length, Iprovide a second cylinder 31 similar to cylinder 3 and located beneaththe same so that the discharge from discharge chute 18 constitutes thefeed of cylinder 31. Cylinder 31 is rotated by means of pulley 32 in adirection opposite to that of cylinder 3 so that the hair is movedbodily from left to right (looking at Fig. 2) to discharge chute 33 fromwhich the hair passes to conveyer belt 34, by which it is delivered atthe point desired.

The operation of my machine will heapparent from the foregoingdescription.

.I-Iair fed by belt 25 ispassed'by rolls 26, 27

to the right hand end of cylinder 3 which is rotated in the direction ofthe arrow shown on the pulley:5,in Fig. 2, where itis caught bythecylinder teeth and thoroughly beaten and scrubbed between the surfacesof these teeth and the surfaces of fixed teeth 16. As adhering skin anddirt are removed from the hair'they fall upon the screen 17 and arepassed outwardly and collected, constituting a very valuable by-productwhich is utilized as fertilizer. Owing to the helical arrangement of thecylinder teeth and the cooperating fixed teeth, the hair is moved bodilytoward the other end of the cylinder during this process of beating andscrubbing, and is finally discharged through chute 18 to thesecondcylinder 31 where the process is repeated. Owing to the obliqueslope of the sides of the teeth, and the narrow forward end of thecylinder teeth, the hair is given a gradual bend when brought in contactor engagement between the movable and fixed teeth, and this combinedwith the lateral ridges or vscrubbing surfaces of the teeth produces anefiicient cleaning of the hair without injury thereto.

While I have described various details'in connection with my invention,Iam aware that many changes in construction and arrangement of parts maybe made without departing from the invention, and these I aim to includewithin the scope of theappended claims. Furthermore, while I havedescribed my process and machine for cleaning hair, it is probable thatother material may be likewise cleaned, and while I have described boththe process and the ma chine as adapted for use in connection with shorthair I mean to include within that term all equivalent material andsubstances.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secureby Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A machine for cleaningshort hair, comprising a rotatable cylinder, a bar extendinglongitudinally and mounted upon the said cylinder, said bar being formedwith a dove-tail longitudinal slot, a'pl ity of projecting teeth formedwith 1 tail bases fitting Within said slots, space blocks in said slotsbetween said teeth, and means for clamping said: teeth and space blocksin position. 7

2. A machine for cleaning short hair, comprising a rotatable cylinder, abar extending longitudinally and mounted upon said cylinder, said barbeing formed with a dove-tail longitudinal slot, a plurality ofprojecting teeth formed with dove-tail bases fitting Within said slots,space blocks in said slots between said teeth, and means for WILLIAM H.PARKS.

Witnesses WM. D. GOULD,

HOWARD T. FAsTm.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.!

